View Poll Results - Squares or Hexagones ?

Squares or Hexagones the Ultimate Tactics question

November 17th, 2009, 14:15

Help me! The system I have worked on is using a square based grid! ( however it will not be so huge work to change to hexagones )

But I see more and more games using hexagones and fewer and fewer with squares…. the more I think about hexagones the more I am thinking about changing…. they have the big benefit of the same length in every direction / instead of like for squares to have diagonals be longer.

Please help me with this hard question!!! Squares or Hexagones ! If you have a another innovative idea I would also like to hear about it….

A hexagonal grid allows for more strategy in combat since there are more potential points of contact (whether attacking or defending). Perhaps the whole distance issue matters for your particular system, but generally that's a non-issue either way so it doesn't carry much weight in the discussion.

Square is easier to implement I'm sure, and in most RPGs it's fine. For games that are more tactical, hexes are more used. They are better for 'round' area spells like fireballs and grenades too. They also allow for more 'flankers' (i.e. now you have 4 side attackers, one backstabber and one front attacker) so you can have, say, +2 to attack by the flankers and +4 for the backstabber, or things like, shield bonus only applies to the 3 front sides, etc.
I like hexes, I think they provide some nice tactical dynamics.

Including the diagonals, a square has eight points of contact, while a hex only has six. There are pluses and minuses either way. For example, it's easier to turtle on a hex-based grid (as the Fantasy General AI has demonstrated to me ad nauseum). Is that a good thing? Depends on the gameplay experience you're aiming for.

— “ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.“ (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

Inspite of the big favor of hexagones… I found myself trashing the system…. not because of combat but because of the outside world….. hexagones works quite well for combat….. but everything in the game take place in the world "There is no battle mode" which change the perspective or graphics….. so for this reason I have after all decided to stay with the little squares…. otherwise it would be "Hexplore" all over again